Abstract

Photo © Simon Heather

1st classified

Salt Farm Workers Harvesting
by Saurabh Sirohiya


Some laborers at work in a salt pan where they move the salt to form circular lines allowing a slow evaporation under the hot sun. At the end of the day the salt will be collected in baskets: it's a really hard job!

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Runner up

The Burning Bridge
by Suzanne Nelson


A portrayal of the ferocity of the effects of extreme salinity on the environment, creating a wasteland of multicellular life, reminiscent of Australia's reoccurring bushfires. The embedded tyre tracks carved in the salt pan give idea to a burning bridge leading the viewer straig...

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Highly commended

Natures Eye
by Jim Picôt


Lake Tyrrell is a pink salt lake in Victoria. Its shape looks like a tiger's eye. This small island inside the lake is something special, as the light falling over the island is amazing, along with the unique look of the island with its textures, colors and shape.

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Highly commended

Snake Eyes
by Ovi D. Pop


A copper mine distorted the natural scenery, where there used to be the village of Geamana, Alba county. This picture was taken in winter, with the ice melting and making this interesting forms.

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Highly commended

Floating Islands
by Aakash Selvan


"Phumdis" are a series of floating islands, exclusive to the Loktak Lake, in northeastern India. They cover a great part of the lake and are heterogeneous masses of vegetation, soil, and organic matter in different stages of decay. "Phumdis" are used by the local people as enclos...

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Highly commended

Let Me Out
by Daniel Franc


Glacial river before finding its entrance to the ocean. This mesmerizing puzzle of shapes, patterns and shades is painted by a river flowing from nearby glaciers straight to the ocean. It took the river about 600 meters around the shore to finally find the opening and enter the A...

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Commended

The Tree
by Jose Pesquero Gomez


The aerial view reveals a figurative forest landscape in which a large tree stands out rising from the surface of what appears to be earth but which is actually a mass of water, the protagonist of the shot and responsible for tracing the branches of the tree.

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Commended

The Unicorn
by Shuai Wu


Overlooking the unicorn hollow dome from the air. From above, the triangular shapes and the curvy lines create a geometrical and fascinating pattern. The viewer's eye gets lost in the movement of the image, as it was an optical illusion. The picture was taken at Unicorn Island, C...

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Commended

Earth and Water
by Ignacio Medem


This is an abstract landscape photography, where the object represented has been reduced to one of its main features: the colors. In this image the only thing that is evoking the existence of a landscape are two colors that are subconsciously related to earth and water.

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Commended

Dumbleyung 1
by Tony Hewitt


Salt loving algae bring color to a remote and extremely saline lake in the South West region of Western Australia, while evaporation has broken the lake into a myriad of ponds and islands.

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Commended

Salt Flames
by Timothy Moon


Lake Tyrrell is a salt lake located in the Mallee District of Victoria. Areas of the lake contain mound springs. The combination of soil colour and minerals creates a vibrant display.

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Commended

The Eye of the Devil 1
by Xiping An


Aiken Spring is known as the "Eye of the Earth" and the "Devil's Eye" because of its resemblance to an eye. The spring has a diameter of more than 10 meters, and it is like boiling water, constantly tumbling upward, whilst the sulfur minerals around it have been deposited for a l...

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Commended

River on the Lake Bed
by Ignacio Medem


Trough a thin layer of water, the underwater stream can be seen, surrounded by its characteristic water collection system. The complementary colours blue and yellow orange together with the tree-like shape of some patterns round off the image.

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Commended

Blue Jewel
by David Swindler


A vivid blue pool is surrounded by geothermal crust in the Icelandic Highlands. Geothermal areas often look better from the aerial perspective: from above this pool resembles a deep and intense eye.

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Commended

Flowers and Fractals
by David Swindler


This shot was taken during a wildflower superbloom in the Utah desert. The yellow color you see in the badlands are actually flowers! The lines in the ground seen from above draw a huge tree, with plenty of branches.

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Commended

Río Tinto
by Thomas Dressler


Aerial view of cracked earth at the shore of the Río Tinto (Red river). Its colour is caused by oxidised iron minerals. The picture is divided in three by curvy lines: colors get stronger and texture gets smoother proceeding from the upper to the lower part of the shot.

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Commended

Icy Forest
by Aleš Komovec


The photo was taken in the winter on the lake in the Šobec camp. Ice and frozen ground stand out in the picture. Amazing patterns created by nature have drawn patterns reminiscent of an abstract forest.

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Commended

Colorful Badlands
by David Swindler


Multi-colored badlands as seen from an aerial perspective. The many erosion channels added lots of interest to the shot, reminding of human cerebral convolutions and sulci or of the bark of a thousand-year-old tree.

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Commended

Egyptian Perspective
by Ignacio Medem


The spillage of chemical products from a copper mine forms a pattern which, when viewed from the air, resembles the Egyptian Perspective used in drawing plans. In these plans, trees were represented lying down.

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Commended

Octopus
by Marcin Giba


When seen from above, the abstract shapes in this sand mine in Dziergowice resemble an octopus. the photographer has been taking pictures of this place for many years and it is constantly changing.

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